Texas Senate Race Heats Up

Beto O’Rourke Challenges Ted Cruz’s Seat

Texas, a state known for its cowboys and Republicans, has a blue-wave brewing. The Senate race between incumbent Ted Cruz (R-T.X.) and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke is a campaign trail with the potential to rock dated notions of Texas as a conservative state. Cruz has been presented by the media as a solid conservative with the record to back it up. Beto, on the other hand, is a solid liberal, a Clintonesque Democrat. Some important issues the two are debating on campaign trail include national security, healthcare, and the Texas economy.

Cruz’s platform has all of the stances typical of most Republicans. His stance on the Constitution and Bill of Rights has been more or less the same since he took office in 2013. His dedication to religious liberty, free speech, and abolishing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) remains as strong as ever; he states on his campaign website that “He has worked to safeguard the Second Amendment right to bear arms during the Senate’s 2013 contentious debate over gun control; introduced legislation to protect states’ Tenth Amendment right to define marriage as between one man and one woman; called for a joint Congressional investigation of the IRS’s infringement of the Fourth and Fifth Amendment in its illegal targeting of conservatives.”

With regard to the economy, Cruz believes that deregulation is the way to go, stating in his platform that he is an “enthusiastic advocate for pro-growth policies to create more opportunities for all Americans.” Cruz has also voted against numerous bills to raise the debt ceiling and insists that if the ceiling is raised, there must be structural reforms put in place to insure that Washington can be more responsible with its budget. The best way to sum up Cruz’s economic stance is this: he believes that if less regulation and less taxes are instituted, more jobs will be created.

Cruz is in favor of a market-based healthcare system. Priding himself on being a leading voice on banning the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Congress, Cruz has remained in favor of ensuring that small businesses are able to express their religious liberty and he has argued that Obamacare violates that premise. Staying true to his free-market roots, he argues that choice, not a government mandate, is what will improve American healthcare.

Newcomer Beto O’ Rourke has an uphill battle if he is going to take the seat from incumbent Cruz. O’Rourke, in contrast to his opponent, has taken the traditionally liberal approach to creating a bridge between workers and the private sector. On the issue of the Second Amendment, he believes that we should get rid of various loopholes in the law in order to ensure that only responsible gun owners have access to firearms. O’Rourke, as stated on his campaign website, is also in favor of prohibiting the sale of high-capacity magazines to “ensure that firearms designed to kill as effectively and efficiently as possible on the battlefield aren’t used in our schools, our streets, our churches, and our concerts.”

On the issue of healthcare, O’Rourke is a supporter of the Affordable Care Act and believes it should be expanded, unlike his Republican counterpart. He hopes to improve healthcare by “stabilizing” the insurance market, and is also a proponent of market-based solutions in healthcare, stating on his website that he is in favor of “Incentivizing insurers to participate in the exchanges, especially in underserved counties.” On issues regarding jobs, O’Rourke is an advocate for a higher minimum wage, and believes that those who are underemployed and unemployed have a place in our economy. He wants to create a jobs program dedicated to rebuilding infrastructure, especially in construction and manufacturing jobs. For O’Rourke, anyone who wants to work should have the opportunity to do so, and should be able to benefit from their countries. On issues of leave, O’Rourke plans to promote the Family and Medical Leave Act to ensure that families can remain “healthy and strong.”

The senatorial race in Texas could be one for the ages, and anyone who is interested in politics should stay tuned. Thus far, the results of the race have been both surprising and could bring us to a new era in Texas history.